Hail David,Sorry my Kili's Heroes is long, but I decided to list all of it to give the group some sense of the scope that can be done for a one-day miniatures "adventure." I think I underestimated the time it took in my previous e-mail. Anticipate about 8 hours of play. Set it up the night before, have the game start about noon, run it with dinner and breaks till late into the night. That would have been a bit better. The Convention game could have lasted about another 2 hours had we started earlier.
Have everything prepped ahead of time. Anticipate figures for the elementals, gargoyles, illusions (if any), Walls, slippery floors, Shadow hexes, fire hexes, pits & stakes, etc. I had a plastic pizza raiser as a method of showing flight. It raised the figure above the group and I used a die to indicate number of "10 feet" off the ground. I suggest using a "timing board"; a large drymarker board divided and numbered into 12 squares for each 5 second round. Then as each round is done, mark any events that happened, any effects that will disappear in round 8, etc. This also give you an idea of how fast you as a GM need to pace it.
I think the game at the Con was going well. The ally players would have liked to have been able to TRY sneaking into the district with enemy trying to roll success to discover. I pondered this but before the game, but I actually feared the Dwarves had a very good chance of doing some hefty initial damage right off with their arqubusses, then the blunderbuses and grenades. So I declined and let them set up in the ruins and work thier way in. I think I did let them attempt to sneak in, but when the alarm sounded it was all out war.
As I recall, the allies also felt they were slightly or greatly infererior to the enemy in ST and 'DX when combined with armor'. Perhaps they were. When using a "What You See Is What You Get", sometimes armor overpowers DX and total Attribute points.
I allowed the Overlords to set up some traps, which they did with zeal. There was a pit trap, 4 rows of spikes that would spring up when activated to stop cavalry, and a grenade trap. In order to activate the traps, an Overlord had to actually stand next to the concealed lever and operate it. Otherwise, civilians would be dying regularly on these things. Unfortunately for the Allies, the path that their cavalry decided to take was in front of the Cathedral that the Overlords were trying to corrupt. When the Overlords finally discovered the Allies, they activated the Pit Trap. I recall the turn before the cavalry gets there, the 1/2 orc pulls the lever at the side of the Cathedral. The Sabertooth gets by it, but it starts collapsing under the ram. The ram makes its savings roll and pulls out, but the charge is lost.
The Allies had a strategy when they went into the scenario, but the game mechanics of movement took them too long to get to their targets. The pit trap definitely balked the dwarf cavalry charge.
I basically Game Mastered the game, except for the Tigar Tank and the AK AK gun. I never did bring out the Dark Dwarves because there weren't enough players, it was late and the Overlords didn't need the support.
I think the players LOVED playing on the board. It gave a whole different sense of what happening on the field. When you can see the house in front of you, know its hieght in relation to the Inn next door, ponder whether going in and setting up your crossbow will help in time to cover the square...it takes the scenario to a new level.
Things I would change when I run it again? I love teaching new players, but if I only have a short time, on this scenario it would be good to use experienced players. (However, experienced players may buck when you add some element that is not standard TFT where a new player wouldn't care.) I would definitely try to preregister more players. This scenario calls out for at least 7 players plus GM. I don't think I would adjust the stats too much for my characters/figures. I know that the next crew will have a completely different view on strategies and tactics. In fact this could probably play out about 4 times before it starts repeating.
I would change how I choose the buildings the gold was in. I realised on the first round that having no known location to start towards was a major difficulty for the Allies. Too many possibilities made for a too much search in too little gaming time. I thought that perhaps the dwarves might ask the civilians for help, but you have to have a dwarf who speaks human and is not busy getting killed to ask in a way that is not going to terrify the human "Where is the Bank?" They would have said, but it was too tricky. I think I'll hint where it is next time in rumors or perhaps a Michlin guide. Even if I told them where the bank was, I would still have a second unknown storage for the rest of the gold. I think a search is part of the fun.
But to see it from a players viewpoint, you need to ask Michael Taylor. He was one of the Allies. Michael, I invite you to say your likes and dislikes of the scenario or the miniatures roleplaying aspect.
Hail Melee, John Paul
From: "David Michael Grouchy II" >To: tft@brainiac.com Subject: Re: (TFT) Kili's Heroes Part 1 Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 17:35:53 -0500From: "John Paul Bakshoian" <hailmelee@hotmail.com> TFT as Miniatures Roleplaying. I planned "Kili?s Hereos" as a miniatures roleplaying scenario.John,As to the material you posted. I have been reading it. It is very long. I havn't gotten through it all yet, so there will be some actual feed back when I do. Also I think I might run it one weekend for the crew. Get a little playtest feed back. How did it play at the LA convention?David Michael Grouchy II
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